Title 34-A

When emergency situations are certified by the chief administrative officer to exist at a correctional or detention facility, the commissioner may, with the approval of the Governor, assign personnel as may be necessary from another facility or division of the department to assis…

The chief administrative officer of each correctional or detention facility shall provide in at least one accessible area in each facility an appropriate space for the posting of written political material sent for that purpose to the chief administrative officer by candidates fo…

1. Rules. The chief administrative officers of correctional or detention facilities may adopt and enforce rules, subject to the approval of the commissioner, governing the use of public ways and parking areas maintained by the State at the facilities. A. The rules must be adopted…

1. Exercise of law enforcement powers. Investigative officers and other employees of the department who are certified by the Board of Trustees of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy as law enforcement officers may exercise the powers of other law enforcement officers with respect …

1. Operation of commissary. Notwithstanding Title 5, section 8‑C, the chief administrative officer of a correctional facility or detention facility may, subject to the approval of the commissioner, permit the operation of a commissary for the sale of food and food supplies to per…

The commissioner may establish ongoing special response teams consisting of personnel from more than one facility or division of the department to assist, as determined by the commissioner, in responding to special situations anywhere in the department.

1. Input from clients. The chief administrative officer of each correctional facility housing adult clients shall seek input from the clients of that facility on at least a quarterly basis relating to the adequacy of the medical and mental health services being provided and sugge…

Beginning October 1, 2022, the department and a service provider that contracts with the department to provide telephone services for residents of a department facility shall provide telephone services in accordance with this section. [PL 2021, c. 615, Pt. A, §1 (NEW); PL 2021, c…

Any person residing in a correctional or detention facility has a right to: [PL 1991, c. 314, §34 (AMD).] 1. Food. Nutritious food in adequate quantities; 2. Medical care. Adequate professional medical care and adequate professional mental health care, which do not include medica…

1. Transportation. A person residing in a correctional or detention facility may be transported by the department for medical care outside the State if the facility's treating physician determines the care is necessary and unavailable within the State. 2. Costs. The person, if ab…

Effective July 1, 2004, the department or its contracted medical provider may pay to a provider of a medical service for a person residing in a correctional or detention facility an amount no greater than the reimbursement rate applicable to that provider and that service as esta…

The commissioner shall adopt rules describing disciplinary offenses and punishments in facilities under the general administrative supervision of the department and establishing a fair and orderly procedure for processing disciplinary complaints. The rules must conform to the fol…

1. Public works. The commissioner may authorize the employment of able-bodied prisoners in the construction and improvement of highways or other public works within the State under such arrangements as may be made with the Department of Transportation or with another department o…

The commissioner may adopt, implement and establish rules for rehabilitative programs, including, but not limited to, work release, education release, remote work, furlough, public service release and programs resulting in the payment of restitution, as described by Title 17‑A, s…

1. Establishment. The commissioner shall adopt rules establishing and governing a supervised community confinement program for certain prisoners committed to the department. 2. Participation and eligibility. The commissioner may transfer any prisoner committed to the department f…

1. Reentry house defined; requirement. For purposes of this section, "reentry house" means a correctional program provided by the department through a written contract with one or more private employers under which the employers provide and maintain housing for specified prisoner…

1. Requirement. The commissioner may require a physical and mental examination of any client. 2. Examiners. The commissioner shall designate competent examiners.

1. Commitment of child. If a client, at the time of commitment to the custody of the Department of Corrections, is the parent of and is providing exclusive care for any child who might otherwise be left without proper care or guardianship, the judge committing that client shall c…

When any client confined in a correctional or detention facility receives money from any source, including compensation for work authorized under other sections of Maine law or by a policy of the department, the money must be deposited in the department's general client account o…

A prisoner may not participate in an industry program under section 1403, a work program under section 3035 or any other program administered by the department by which a prisoner is able to generate money unless the prisoner consents to pay at least 25% of that money for the sup…

Any property abandoned or unclaimed by a client in a correctional or detention facility must be disposed of according to Title 33, chapter 45.

Property remaining in a correctional or detention facility as a result of a client's death is governed as follows. [PL 1991, c. 314, §47 (AMD).] 1. Payment. Except as provided in subsection 4, if any client in the custody of the department dies, and no personal representative of …

1. Notice to prisoner. The commissioner, chief administrative officer or other official having custody of a prisoner serving a term of imprisonment in a correctional facility in this State shall promptly inform the prisoner in writing of: A. The source and contents of any untried…

1. Notification of immigration officer. When a person is admitted or committed to a correctional facility, a county jail or any other state, county, city or private institution which is supported wholly or in part by public funds, the chief administrative officer of the facility,…

1. Escapees. The commissioner shall take all proper measures for, and may, with the approval of the Governor, offer a reward for the apprehension and return of any client in any correctional or detention facility who has escaped from the control of the department. A. The reward m…

When any client in custody dies, an examination and inquest must be held, and the commissioner or the chief administrative officer of the facility shall cause a medical examiner to be immediately notified for that purpose pursuant to Title 22, section 3025. For purposes of this s…

1. Family member. At the discretion of and under conditions prescribed by the commissioner, a client confined in a correctional or detention facility may attend the funeral of the client's spouse or domestic partner or the client's parent, child, sibling, grandparent or grandchil…

When any prisoner sentenced to the department is paroled or discharged, the commissioner: [PL 1991, c. 314, §52 (AMD).] 1. Clothing. Shall ensure that the prisoner is provided with decent clothing; 2. Money. May give the prisoner an amount equal to the net salary of a single wage…

The commissioner shall adopt rules that provide for the accommodation of any prisoner who expresses a desire to practice a religion of the prisoner's choice as long as the practice does not present a threat to the safety, security or orderly management of the facility in which th…

1. Grounds for involuntary medication. A person with mental illness residing in a mental health unit of a correctional facility that provides intensive mental health care and treatment may be given medication for the mental illness without the consent of the person if, upon appli…

By February 1, 2023 and annually thereafter, the department shall report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal justice and public safety matters on the number of juveniles in the custody of the department as juvenile detainees or juv…

A correctional facility or detention facility housing female clients shall ensure to the greatest extent practicable the presence of a female corrections officer during the transportation of a female client to and from a medical appointment and shall ensure that the client is aff…

The commissioner shall maintain a comprehensive substance use disorder treatment program, referred to in this section as "the program," in all correctional facilities. The program must include, but is not limited to, screening, assessment and treatment of persons residing in corr…

1. Transfer. The commissioner may transfer any client from one correctional or detention facility or program, including prerelease centers, work release centers, halfway houses, supervised community confinement or specialized treatment facilities, to another. A juvenile may not b…

1. Requirements. The commissioner may transfer any prisoner sentenced to the department to a federal penal or correctional institution if the United States Bureau of Prisons accepts the commissioner's application for transfer of the prisoner. 2. Contract. The commissioner may con…

The commissioner may accept custody of prisoners transferred to the department from county jails under Title 30‑A, section 1557‑B.

1. Transfer of prisoner. The commissioner may transfer a prisoner serving a sentence in a correctional facility to a county jail, upon the request of the chief administrative officer and the approval of the sheriff of the jail. 2. Cost of transfer. The department shall pay the co…

1. Involuntary. When a prisoner of a correctional facility has been determined by a competent medical authority to require inpatient treatment for mental illness, the chief administrative officer of that facility shall make application in accordance with Title 34‑B, section 3863.…

1. Eligible inmates. The commissioner may transfer from a jail to a correctional facility an adult inmate who the chief administrative officer of the Riverview Psychiatric Center confirms is eligible for admission to a state mental health institute under Title 34‑B, section 3863,…

1. Acceptance of placement. The commissioner may accept the placement of an adult defendant in a mental health unit of a correctional facility that provides intensive mental health care and treatment for observation whom a court commits to the custody of the Commissioner of Healt…

1. Acceptance of placement. The commissioner may accept the placement of an adult defendant, referred to in this section as "the defendant," in a mental health unit of a correctional facility whom a court, after hearing, finds by clear and convincing evidence is incompetent to st…

1. Dangerous diseases. 2. Contagious diseases. If a client in any correctional or detention facility requires medical care outside the facility, the commissioner may: A. Cause the client to be removed to some suitable place of security where the client will receive all necessary …

If a treaty in effect between the United States and a foreign country provides for the transfer or exchange of convicted offenders to the country of which they are citizens or nationals, the Governor may, on behalf of the State and subject to the terms of the treaty, authorize th…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, transportation of a prisoner between a correctional facility and a court in connection with the prosecution of the prisoner for a crime committed within a correctional facility is the responsibility of the department, unless the departm…

As used in this article, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. [PL 2015, c. 315, §4 (NEW).] 1. Corrections officer. "Corrections officer" means a person who is responsible for the custody or direct supervision of a person confine…

1. Restraints prohibited. A correctional facility or a detention facility may not use restraints on a prisoner or juvenile known to be pregnant, including during transport to a medical facility or birthing center, labor, delivery and postpartum recovery, unless the chief administ…